The Underworld Virus
by FoalyWinsForever
Summary: First fic, written before Atlantis Complex came out, so it's a bit on the AU side. Slightly clichéd, but I do still find it a bit lulzy at times. Give it a shot if you wish.
1. Prologue

**Hey there, I'm actually writing this a while after writing chapter 13. I decided to come back and fix a few typos. Just for the record, it gets better the farther you read, so try to make it to around chapter 6 at least if you can. Thanks for reading my debut fic!**

**Prologue**

**Hook Head, Several Days Ago**

Opal Koboi was still for a few moments, mentally checking her faculties. Nothing was broken, thanks to that suit. Holly's suit, made by Foaly. The irony rankled her. Presumably the human, Artemis, had survived the blast; surely, having shot the kraken himself, he would have had a plan for survival. Once she got out, he would pay. Him, and that elf Holly, obviously Foaly, Fowl's bodyguard, that little dwarf, and possibly Trouble and the Brill brothers, just for good measure.

Still frozen in the pile of rubble that had buried her after Fowl shot the kraken, she vaguely considered where the Brill brothers were now. After all, she was eight years ahead of her own time, and had no idea what had occurred during that time. Disconcertingly, Fowl and the others were still alive, which meant either that she had made it back to her own time, but failed to annihilate them, or worse, she was to be defeated when she was and imprisoned. She wondered offhandedly what would happen if she didn't make it back to her own time. Would another Opal take her place? Surely not, how many times could nature create a creature of such beauty? Or would the time paradox become reality?

She tried to reach down to key this suggestion into her wrist computer, and when her arm didn't move, she was jolted back instantly to the problem at hand. She was trapped, presumably with the future LEP after her, and who knew what new gadgets that idiotic centaur had dreamt up in most of a decade? The only weapons she had were the suit and helmet, which was running out of oxygen at an alarming rate. First of all, the helmet was most likely being tracked, so whatever her plan evolved to be, she wouldn't be able to take it with her.

Opal spent several minutes considering and rejecting various schemes, before realizing that her magic and science wouldn't be much help to her now. Blinking her eyes and twitching her fingers, she set the scaled suit to be completely flat, slightly limiting her range of motion but making her almost completely frictionless. Keeping the helmet on, she slowly wormed and wiggled her way upward. The air in the helmet began to smell more and more like methane, and her foot was cramping, but she persevered until at last a ray of moonlight filtered through the helmet's visor. She wiggled like a fish out of water until she was completely freed from her subterranean prison. At the last moment, she remembered the helmet she was wearing. Ruefully yanking it off of her luscious locks, she jammed it back down the tunnel she had created and then collapsed the unstable soil and rock over it. No need to make thing any easier for the LEP.

With a few more blinks and finger twitches, wings emerged from the recessed grooves in the back of the suit. She found herself ruefully admiring the efficiency of Foaly's work. She, of course, could design a far better suit if she so chose, though, she told herself. Which was fortunate, because the centaur would be dead within a week, the pixie told herself. Him and all of his friends.

And with that thought, she soared into the air, calling up the People's news mainframe on her wrist computer even as she left the ground. Soon, she had been brought up to speed on all that had happened in the last eight years. She did not like what she read. Scrolling through the archives, she read about her failed alliance with Cudgeon and the goblins. A tear for her own genius came into her eye as she read about the Zito probe, which quickly turned into a tear of rage as she read about how Holly, Artemis, Butler, and Mulch had thwarted her. At least she'd killed Julius. That little bit of information gave her no end of pleasure. Julius had been the one who had convinced the Council to force her to give up all of the lemur brain fluid that she had stockpiled. If not for him, she would be truly all-powerful. But she'd gotten him eventually, of course. Smiling again as she read about the trap she'd set for Holly and Root, she rocketed toward Dublin. She had no plan yet, but she had a feeling that when she did, this was where it would begin.

Finished with the LEP site, she navigated to her own encrypted diary, expecting to find some more accurate details of the events. She was even more delighted but what she found instead. An entry had been keyed in the previous day. Delightedly, she cracked her own code, and read the message from her current self. Her pretty face contorted with fury as she found out that she was in jail. Her. Opal Koboi, in a common prison. Well, that would not do at all. Changing course, the pixie flew toward Atlantis instead, shielding her suit's signature as she went. She heard its tiny hum die as it stopped broadcasting. _Now_ she had a plan.


	2. The D'Arvit Heard Throughout the Land

**Sorry this took so long to update, my muse is apparently on vacation. Like I said before, I still haven't planned the whole book, so this chapter is a bit of a filler, sorry. Don't worry; we'll get there soon!**

**Atlantis**

Foaly clopped down the corridors of the prison facility with a look that dared the staff to cross him. He'd been promised a few weeks of from Section 8, but had been called by Vinyaya herself right as he stepped off the shuttle under the Bahamas. Apparently the security system had been acting "funny", and the prison's own techies couldn't seem to isolate the bug, so he'd been called in. Dragged was closer to the mark, really.

"Morning, Foaly." That was Chix Verbil, head of the Deeps security, and recently returned to the sky since an encounter with No1's advanced healing capabilities. Foaly grunted eloquently and shoved his way past him into the booth, his huge brain already whirring as he glanced at the main diagnostics screen.

"Strange… very, very, strange," he muttered to himself as he read the complex series of numerals and symbols like another fairy would read Gnommish. "Either there_ is_ a bug, a serious one, or… we could have a problem," he finished ominously.

"As in, we may need to reboot, or as in, mass escape?" Verbil enquired, wings fluttering nervously in the damp, confined space.

"Could be either. Most likely it's irrelevant, but with time-traveling Opal on the loose, anything strange happening within a hundred klicks of our Opal should be treated as an emergency."

"Well, what's wrong with the system?"

"As I said, it's strange. The pattern was so unfamiliar and basic my scans almost missed the ping entirely… but in plain Gnommish, we've been hacked. By human software."

**Police Plaza**

Artemis sighed, lowering the lid of his laptop with more force than was perhaps absolutely necessary. He hadn't expected Opal to stay away from Fowl Manor. But to block their Internet? Really? Even for her, that was cruel.

Once the LEP had been notified of Opal's escape from the kraken debris, they'd immediately sent Trouble Kelp to the manor to collect the Fowl family. At this point, nobody doubted that she would attempt to avenge her own imprisonment, although no one was sure exactly how many Opals they had to deal with. As he'd been escorted out the door, Artemis had grabbed his laptop, but either it couldn't contact the manor's server at this range, or Opal had brought down the entire network. The fairies, he knew, easily broadcasted signals through the earth's crust, into space, and back again, but he somehow doubted he'd be allowed access to their computers, no matter how friendly they'd become.

Artemis himself, along with Butler, had been given lodging in Police Plaza, but the rest of the Fowl family has been sedated for the present. Artemis had been uncomfortable with giving his blessing, but the twins in particular were a liability, and if the Opal situation intensified, which he knew it would, he wanted to be able to get involved without being forced to consult his parents.

He restlessly paced the room for several minutes, and then ventured outside. Holly, having recently been promoted to Major, was on duty, so Artemis set off for her office, intending to get an update on the Opal escapade. Upon entering the foyer, however, he was overwhelmed by the flurry of diminutive bodies hurrying urgently to and fro. Battling his way through the crowd, and earning a bruised toe for his trouble, Artemis arrived in the hallway containing the offices of most of the top brass. (Following the return of Hybras, it had become impractical for Section 8 to remain secret, so they, too, had offices here.)

Frowning, he strode down the hall to the elfin major's office, knocked, and entered after receiving an invitation. Holly sat behind a desk, and didn't appear to be overly thrilled by this state of affairs.

Artemis, noticing this, commented, "You couldn't really have been expecting to be given a field assignment on this case, were you? Aside from myself, perhaps, Opal thirsts for your blood more than anyone's."

Holly sighed, fingers beating a restless tattoo on the helmet that sat on her desk.

"It's not just this case, Artemis. I haven't gotten a single field job since my promotion. This is the best way for me to serve the People, I keep telling myself that. Is it really? I don't know. But it's too late now, anyway." She paused. Artemis opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Oh, I see," she continued, "That's not why you're here. Sorry. Well, about Opal. We haven't seen hide or hair of her, although Foaly's in the Deeps to investigate some sketchy reports from their system." She smiled wickedly. "I don't think I've ever seen a centaur look so grumpy as when he stepped off that shuttle. We called him off of a vacation," she added, as Artemis looked confused.

Just then, a beeper went off on her desk. Holly removed an earpiece from a recess and twisted it into her ear, then pulled up a mounted speaker that had previously been flush with the surface of the desk. Artemis raised an interested eyebrow, but Holly wasn't paying attention. Her grin had melted from her face, to be replaced by horror, then determination.

"Really. Oh. Oh, D'Arvit. Really? How? D'Arvit." The one sided conversation continued in this vein for several minutes, before she finally removed the earpiece and weakly pushed the speaker back down.

"What happened?" Artemis asked, as though he didn't already know. Holly sighed resignedly, running long fingers through her short hair.

"Like you can't guess. All right, fine. Somebody, and I bet I know who, broke our Opal out, and Foaly hasn't figured out how yet. Now there are two of them, and both want to kill us."


	3. Artemis the Hunter

**Athens, Greece**

Opal howled with glee, cracking her tiny knuckles over the virtual keyboard. This was too easy, just too easy! That pompous, arrogant centaur; he never could accept that his systems weren't perfect. Luckily for her. She keyed in a few last commands delightedly, still cackling at her own demented genius. She had duped them all, Artemis, Foaly, the LEP… The LEP had been the easiest; all it had taken to break into the abandoned cham pod anchored under the pylons of the pier was the basic LEP access code, given to every private upon admission to the academy. She hadn't even needed to take a prisoner; the code was right on their site! As an added bonus, there had been a computer, V-goggles, and even a weapons locker abandoned in the pod.

Foaly and Artemis she had outthought simultaneously. Foaly, of course, hadn't encrypted his systems against human software, so to hack the Deeps' security network had, again, been simply too easy. The way in which she had circumvented Artemis' logic, however, amazed even her. It was simple, really: the modern Opal, the one behind the B'wa Kell rebellion and the Zito probe, _remembered_ this particular escapade. Obviously. They were the same person, so the Opal who had until recently been incarcerated knew exactly what to do.

This was more important than it would at first seem. The Deeps' first line of defense in preventing breakouts is that the prisoners aren't allowed any communication, so it's extremely difficult to collaborate on an escape plan. The Opals, however, did not have this problem. Past-Opal, from her comfy Athenian den, having already overridden Foaly's encryptions, remotely sprung the lock on present-Opal's door and wiped her pattern from the camera. Present-Opal, remembering the camera feed, knew exactly where to find an earpiece, and following past-Opal's instructions, carefully evaded the guards until she arrived at the sub port, where she gave the access code provided to her by her partner in crime. Entering, she keyed the autopilot commands and a destination into the sub, and was then promptly shot in the back by a roving patrol just as the doors closed.

Past-Opal, thinking quickly, had activated a wall laser and stunned the guards, allowing the sub to follow the path present-Opal had given it. It wasn't until the sub was almost to the surface that Chix noticed the discrepancy in the broadcasting patterns of the cameras, and it was only after a search that the guards were found. Foaly, as soon as he had found the guards, had put them on a priority channel to report to Holly.

**Police Plaza**

"Human software?" Artemis inquired, looking as openly astonished as Holly herself.

"It was clever, very Opal-esque. I can't say I'm surprised," Holly replied. And it was true. The look on her face was best described as resigned.

"Any clue as to where she might be?" Holly relayed the question to Foaly, whom she was now talking to on the earpiece she had spoken with guards on earlier. She jabbed the "speaker" button so that Foaly and Artemis could hear each other.

"Good question!" That was Foaly, seeming remarkably cheerful considering the circumstances. Holly scowled and rolled her eyes as he continued, "Opal's smart, extremely so. And she may have outwitted me before, but that was luck."

"You call overriding your entire system- twice- luck?" Holly sniped.

"Yes, actually, I do, my vertically challenged friend. The point is, I've got her this time. Human software leaves trails, remember? Even though I can't trace the computer she used, I can find her location within about one hundred meters. I already scanned a copy of the bug she sent, and she's in Athens. It's logical; the city is very near Atlantis. The exact location is in the helmet on your desk. Oh, and Vinyaya wants to talk to you." With that, he was gone. Holly, whose scowl had deepened at the "vertically challenged" comment, quickly arranged her features into a more pleasant expression as a real-time hologram of Vinyaya appeared exactly where Artemis was standing, superimposing itself on top of him. Holly hid her mirth at the curious sight of Artemis with long, silver locks.

"Major Short," said the commander, seeming to speak from the Artemis-Vinyaya hybrid, which was pulling off a peculiar expression of serenity imposed on top of complete confusion. Artemis looked down. For a moment he appeared alarmed at his appearance, which was that of a decidedly feminine figure, but then noticed for the first time that he was standing on the holo-pad, which he promptly vacated. Holly once again looked contritely and innocently at Vinyaya, who appeared confused for a moment but continued unphased. "I'm afraid I must ask much of you. Of course you already know that Opal is back. You are the best equipped to fight her, but you would also be in the most danger if you did so, so I will not command you to lead the assignment. I will, however, ask you. Will you volunteer?"

Holly was delighted; Artemis could tell just by looking at her, even though she hid it well.

"Well… I suppose," the elf began in a remarkable imitation of reluctance. "I suppose it's my duty, isn't it? Of course, I'll take the assignment. But if I pull this off, I'm taking a week off to hit the spa with Caballine. Also, Artemis and Butler will help me, if they wish. Agreed?"

Vinyaya actually looked relieved. "Agreed!" she said, then blinked out of existence.

Holly, having finished her victory dance, turned to Artemis.

"So, what do you say? Shall we have another adventure?"

"I'll get Butler," Artemis said, already halfway out the door. "Juliet, too. Maybe even Minerva, if she's willing. Why don't you call up old Mulch, too? May as well go all the way with it. This time, we're the ones with the resources; we're the ones hunting her. Since we finally have all of the advantages, we may as well make good use of them"

"True," said Holly, following him out the door. "She won't stand a chance. Both of her."


	4. Cheeseburger in Paradizo

**Doner Burger, Rue de Mėnilmontant, Paris, France**

Minerva Paradizo stared sadly at her plate, taking in the forlorn cheeseburger it contained. Across from her, her father, Gaspard, enthusiastically bit into his Quarter-Pounder, juice dripping onto the table. A burger restaurant? In Paris? Her stare turned into a glare, as though if she were to intimidate the burger enough, it might turn into the plate of basil salmon terrine that she really wanted.

The reason for this deviation from standard procedure was that, according to Gaspard,

"The security detail says that the readings are all wrong, something about a- a frequency? Yes. Something like that. So we must leave, to a less strange house."

And did they move the Britain? Germany? Spain? No. No, of course not. Her father had, that very day, applied for American citizenship, and had taken her out for a burger in honor of the planned move.

What Gaspard didn't know, however, was the reason for the strange feed from the cameras. It could be explained in one word: Foaly. Minerva had retained such a close friendship with Butler, she'd sworn she wouldn't tell, and- perhaps most effective of all- she had mastered the art of the puppy dog eyes as well as Artemis had mastered that of the vampire smile. The Council however, while unwilling to mindwipe her, didn't want to leave her freelancing either, and so had requested Foaly to keep the manor under surveillance.

She was jolted out of her reverie by her father's voice, his mouth still full of Angus:

"Minerva, honey, I have not yet gotten a ticket for you. I will be leaving for America in two days, to find us a villa there. As soon as I do so, I will send for you, and also our possessions on the same day, so that we may move in. I've heard California is nice," he mused idly, glancing shiftily at her burger, which she shoved in his direction with an amused lift of her lips.

"I am sure, Papa, that you will find us a lovely chateau there. But what am I to do while you search for a house? You will have to sell ours before you buy a new one. Where am I to live?"

"At first, I was going to have you room with the Fowls. Such lovely people. But they are not picking up their telephone, and apparently not checking their email either, and I was unable to arrange anything with them. So, I have booked you a room in a lovely hotel in Paris. Hotel Jardin de l'Odeon, to be exact. I shall call you on your cellular phone every few days, and when I have made arrangements for your arrival."

At which, having left sufficient cash on the table, they stepped into the European drizzle outside, where she caught a cab and he caught a cold.

**Sorry for the minichap, it was just a filler to give you an idea of what's up with Minerva, and to allow me somewhere to work Jimmy Buffett into all this.**


	5. The Plot Thickens

**Long wait, I know, sorry. If you really want to know why, you can read my profile, but odds are you don't give a flying… um, yeah. Anyway, here we go.**

**The Academy, Haven**

No1 whirled and twirled in a glittering cloud of multicolored sparks, glad that he was alone in the empty, dim room. He giggled as the tiny points of light scattered and reformed into various scenes and creatures, and was in the middle of imitating Quan's famous dancing monkey when the door slid open, interrupting the little demon's "training session". Turning happily to the door, his smile widened when he saw whom his visitor was.

"Holly!" he cried, running forward to meet her. "I haven't seen you in so long! It's… it's… simply _splendiferous_ so see you again!" Holly, unsure of whether splendiferous was a word and even less sure of what it meant, inferred that he was happy to see her, and embraced him warmly.

"Hey, No1!" she said, returning the grin. "It's… er… _good_ to see you, too! I'd love to chat, but, as I'm sure you know, we've got a bit of a situation on our hands, and I've got a favor to ask you."

"Ask away!"

"So Opal, the one from the past, is out of her time, and was brought here by your magic. When Artemis went back in time to get Jayjay, you were able to bring us back, because this was when we were supposed to be, and it was your magic that sent us then in the first place. Well, since you technically transported Opal here, would you be able to send her back? I already asked Quan, he said that it would be a first but he can't think of a reason that it wouldn't work. So are you willing to give it a try?"

No1 considered it for about three seconds.

"Of course! But I think that it would be easier to do from the placed she arrived, that is, the study in Fowl Manor. If I hide in there, and we can lure her to stand in the exact location, then it might work. Just out of curiosity, wouldn't it be easier so simply hit her in the head with a hammer?"

Holly blinked, thrown off a bit by the (very) uncharacteristic display of violence.

"Well, uh, probably, yes, but Artemis has theorized that if we don't send the Opal from the past back where she belongs, then the universe will implode."

"Really?"

"Actually no, but there was a little too much science and a little too little hitting Opal on the head with hammers in his plan. I like your idea better, but we're going with his. As soon as we iron out the details, and get the final permission from Council, I'll let you know."

He waved cheerily and returned to his conjuring, which resulted in her being escorted out the door by a shimmering entourage of bright pink elephants.

**La Luna demon bar, Haven**

Jax Timor was not a happy demon. He sighed angrily and took another sip of his drink, running a long-taloned hand down his horns, which cheered him up slightly. He loved his horns.

"Refill?"

Jax looked up. A sullen she-demon was standing on the other side of the bar, holding a pitcher with dubious contents.

"Nah," he answered with a glare. "I can't drink too much, I just had my medicine."

"Medicine?" the barmaid inquired, hating that her job required her to pretend that she actually cared.

"I'm on mood pills. Otherwise there wouldn't be a single Mud Man left on the surface. Not… a… single… one," he enunciated theatrically, gnashing his teeth. The barmaid was still resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Buck demons. Honestly. Completely mad, every one of them.

"Hmm," she commented sympathetically, or at least it sounded like that to Jax. "It's not right, those pills. Changing how you think. Those little elves and pixies, thinking they have that right."

"True, true. You know what? I'll show them. I'm not taking these pills anymore. Let them deal with me when my mind is truly my own." The demoness' cynical demeanor melted instantly as she realized what she had done.

"Umm… no, no no no! I really don't think that's a good idea. I mean, after all, the human-hating was just drilled into your head by Abbot, and, uh…" she trailed off slowly. Jax, slamming the packet of pills onto the bar, smiled ominously and left.

"You gonna report that?" The demoness barmaid turned to address the speaker, an ancient buck who simply wasn't ferocious enough for bloodlust anymore. She hesitated.

"Eh. Um. Well. You know, he probably won't really do anything. And his doctor would notice, wouldn't he? And, um, besides, I don't even know who he is-" She stopped, glad that she had stumbled upon a valid excuse. "Yes, that's it. If anything happens we'll tell the LEP what we know, but I'm sure it won't. Of course."

The ancient buck raised a questioning eyebrow but went back to his mochaccino without comment.


	6. The Gemini Effect

**Hey, sorry for No1's overly-convenient new ability in this chapter, but really, wouldn't you prefer one little Deus ex Machina than ten chapters of "past-Opal did that, present-Opal did that"? Yeah, me too. Also, evidently you can's have superscript in fanfictions (that's what the little 1 in No1 usually is) so we're just going to have to deal with him being No1. The only characters I own (so far) are Jax and the other 2 demons in La Luna, Colfer owns the rest (obviously). Sorry for the overly verbose author's note, I'll shut up now. You're welcome.**

**Athens, Greece**

Opal, the one who'd just escaped the Deeps, yawned and stretched, rising from the couch she'd been sleeping on. She supposed she was lucky, really, that there was a couch at all on the cham pod. Ah well, time to do away with her partner in crime, she thought happily, froze, and then unfroze as she remembered that neither she nor her unwitting counterpart could actually read minds. Since the other Opal was busy planting her virus, she could plot freely. Clearing her mind of all else, she recalled this particular day in her unusually sharp memory.

The LEP's plan, she knew, was to lure past-Opal to the Fowl study, where they would magic her back to her own time. Well, that was exactly what they would do. She realized as well as Artemis that it simply wouldn't end well if her past self wasn't sent back to her true time soon. Soon. She giggled at the concept.

Secure in the knowledge that her erstwhile companion would remain unaware of the plan, as she obviously must, because it had worked, Opal logged onto the computer, and brought up the page that she happened to know was there: the page giving clearance for the Fowl family to be brought to Haven at dark that very day. The Fowls, she could only assume, were already underground, and this page was the bait for just in case she didn't choose to go after them immediately, which, of course, she hadn't.

"Opal!" she hailed as the other pixie slipped into the pod. "My, you look beautiful today! While you were setting the data pack, I hacked the LEP timetable, and we have only a few hours to exact my- I mean our- revenge on the Fowls. They'll be out of reach as of dark tonight."

"Tricky," the second Opal commented, removing her helmet. "They'll probably be expecting us. Somehow I doubt that'll be a problem though, it never has been before, after all." She grinned wickedly.

_What a beautifully evil creature I am, _thought the first Opal. _I do hate to trick myself, but it can't be helped. _"I'm not feeling quite up to an actual interaction, though," she said out loud. "If it's okay with you, I'll stay here and monitor their security, help you from the sidelines."

And the other Opal agreed, trusting her completely. Why shouldn't she?

**Fowl Manor, later that day**

"Any surveillance around this corner?" Opal whispered into her mike. She heard the clacking of keys on the other end of the connection, then her own voice reply,

"Nope, you should be fine, but keep your shield on." The Opal on the other end of the line neglected to mention the burly human, lithe fairy, and demon shaking with barely suppressed glee waiting inside one of the doors that came off that particular hallway. The pixie in Fowl manor skulked down the hallway, when suddenly-

"_Dive!"_ yelled the Opal in Athens. "The door on your left!" She smiled ruefully as she remembered that same command being given to her years ago, when she had been in the other Opal's place. There was, of course, no reason to dive into that particular room. She knew that Artemis was planning to stroll in sight of the pixie, so that he was followed, and simply enter the room, nefarious stalker in tow, but when she had been there this was what the Opal talking to her had done, and it had worked, so she decided to trust her own plan rather than the LEP's. A good decision, as it turned out.

The Opal in the manor, meanwhile, was just reorienting herself after her brief flight when a mesmerizing glow captured her attention. She took a step forward and squinted…

********

"Come on, come on, one more step!" Holly thought furiously as she saw her archenemy stumble towards them. She wondered what change in plans had resulted in Opal's airborne entrance rather than her planned pursuit of Artemis, but was more concerned with aiming her Neutrino for just in case than puzzling over that particular quandary. Opal displayed remarkable obedience for such a despicable creature, pausing exactly where they needed her to be. She turned to No1 to give him the signal, but he had already slipped into a trance. The runes on his forehead spun in a dizzying Mandala wheel, power rushing to his fingertips. His eyes still dreamlike, he pointed to the center of the room, just behind Opal.

For a moment before she turned around, Opal was silhouetted by the temporal glow gathering behind her. It was at that time that Holly fully comprehended that the monstrous shadow looming before her, in front of the only light in the room, was in fact her sworn enemy. Until then, the entire situation had had a sort of ethereal quality to it. Holly felt an inexplicable flash of fear, and then was instantly furious with herself for it. She steeled her nerves and tightened her grip on her gun.

Time froze. Opal, whirling, finally realized what was happening, and threw back her head and let loose a scream of pure fury, which mingled with the roar of the quantum juggernaut swirling before her. The familiar tingle of the rent in time filled the room, making Holly shiver. She ducked as the orange maelstrom flashed once, and then again, gathering more power even though Holly couldn't comprehend that more power could exist. Opal's voice, cutting through the crescendoing thunder, rose in pitch, then, with a flare that burned Holly's retinas even through her visor and eyelids, her voice simply disappeared.

**Athens**

Opal laughed and laughed, sounding increasingly manic. It had worked! It had worked so well! They thought they'd won a great victory, but no. They were trapped on the surface thanks to her virus, and they'd rid her of her most dangerous enemy. Still smiling, she dismounted her chair, switched on her shield and her wings, and zipped out into the balmy Athenian air. While en route to Ireland, she considered the rest of her plan. Although her foes were trapped on the surface, she was outnumbered and outgunned. She needed leverage.

Opal called up Artemis' profile on the LEP mainframe, scrolling through his contacts. His family, of course, was all below ground, his bodyguard was with him, the bodyguard's sister kept too much company to be easily abducted… a name caught her eye. She clicked it, then read the profile that it linked to. The catlike smirk rose to her features once again. To France, then.

**Office of Dr. Jerbal Argon**

The good doctor, his asylum having been driven out of business by the Koboi incident, as he now thought of it, was back to practicing medicine. He was still in psychology, but a different branch. Now, he worked with demon bucks to prevent them from racing to the surface and eating every human that they came across.

He sighed, running a cloth across his walnut desk for just in case any microscopic particles of dust had landed there. (The gnome was a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side. He was giving himself therapy for it, without much success.) Finally, the door swung open. Slammed, actually would have been a more accurate method of description.

"Problem, Jax?" the psychologist asked, sighing inwardly. Jax was one of his most unruly patients.

"Yes! There _is_ a problem!" the demon screeched forcefully. Argon winced. He was getting a headache already.

"Do you want to talk about it?" At this, Jax went ballistic.

"Noooooo!" he howled at the ceiling, sending a spike of pain through Argon's already-tender cranium. "I don't want to talk! I want to tell you that I'm not taking those pills of yours anymore!"

Argon neglected to point out that they were, technically, talking.

"Why?" he asked. "You have to take the pills! Remember Abbot, the one captured by that Paradizo girl? He's the one that drilled this into your head! It's not really your opinion anyway…" He, too, trailed off. Fairies had a tendency to do that when Jax got the look that he was getting now.

"That Paradizo girl…" he breathed, then turned and skidded out the door, leaving a bewildered doctor behind him.

Jax raced through the streets of Haven, determined to act on his brainchild. _That Paradizo girl…_ it ran through his head like a mantra. He would find her. He would kill her. Then, demonkind would have its revenge.

The shuttleport attendant looked at him skeptically when he raced in, panting.

"Ehrm… no shuttles today, sir. Some kind of technical difficulty. Take a hotshot if you really need to get to the surface, but the techies say it could be a while before there're any shuttles down, so ya might be up there a while. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

But Jax had been gone as soon as the attendant had said the word "hotshot".

**Sorry is this chapter was ridiculously confusing, you see now why one of the Opals had to go. Also, otherwise the modern Opal would always know what was going to happen, because she'd been there before, and that, obviously, would make for a very sad story. This chapter was more of a filler, to meet Jax a bit more, and get an Opal out of the way, more good guys next time, I promise! And please review if you have an idea for a real kicker of an ending, because I'm not having much luck thinking of one myself. Actually, review even if you don't. Kthxbai.**


	7. Tilapia

**Hey there, folks. First of all, I rewrote the scene where Opal gets sent back in the last chapter, but it doesn't affect the plot, so you can go read that if you feel like it, but you don't have to. (Obviously if you just finished reading chapter 6 for the first time, you already read the new version.) Well, I promised more good guys in the next chapter, so… here they are.**

**Fowl Manor**

The elf blinked slowly, surprised to find herself curled on the floor. She was shocked by how normal the room looked; not a book out of place, as though the raging storm had never been. She turned to see how her companions were faring. No1 was sitting on the floor, stumpy legs and tail akimbo, and though plunked there by the hand of God. Butler, lurking in the shadows near the door, was inscrutable.

The door slowly opened, and Butler tensed, but then relaxed as Artemis stepped calmly inside.

"I take it Opal found her way here without my guidance?" He reached out and flicked the lights on. Holly shrank from the stark white glare. The elf paused for a moment before answering, as though the light had woken her from a dream.

"I… yes, I suppose she did, didn't she?" Holly replied. "She dove right in, actually. It was strange, very strange."

"I see."

Holly had to stifle a guffaw when she looked at Butler, now thrown into full view by the ceiling's industrial lighting fixtures. The only word for him was "frazzled". He was twitching slightly, and Holly guessed that if he hadn't been bald as a potato, his hair would have been standing up straight.

"Ah, this was your first experience with the time stream, wasn't it?"

Butler nodded quickly, clearly composing himself. Soon he was back in control of the situation.

"Yes, Holly, it was. Now I suggest that we get back to the shuttle before Opal number two decides on a rematch."

That doused her humor. The four double-timed back out to the garden, where Retrieval was patrolling the perimeter. Not strictly necessary, considering that the plan had been for Opal to get in, and anyone else would be foiled by the Fowl security system, but it gave them something to do.

"All present and correct?" inquired the recently promoted Major Vein, now leader of Retrieval One. "Chix, load 'em up."

Holly cocked her head, surprised. Chix caught the gesture.

"Yup, I'm Retrieval now. Pretty sweet, huh? I got promoted when Aviano had that run-in with those swear toads. I'm on probation now, though. Can't mess up. So don't distract me!" This last comment was made somewhat less sever by a smarmy wink. Holly blinked twice, then decided the best course of action was to just ignore him.

"Eh… right then. Let's just get back belowground." Just then, Vein emerged from the shuttle.

"No can do, Captain," he said. "I just finished talkin' to Foaly, and he says we're a bit stuck for the time being. Apparently the shuttleport computers are all on the fritz, and the doors won't open, so we're just s'posed to chill up here 'till he gives us the go-ahead."

Holly grimaced, for more reasons than one. First, their shuttle getting trapped on the surface was extremely fishy. Second, why did all Retrieval members have to talk like that? She could have sworn Vein at least had spoken normally when he had been a captain like her.

"Are you sure we should stay here? This 'malfunction' seems very Opalesque, and this is exactly where she'd expect us to be. Don't forget, there's still another one out there."

Vein's face darkened as he considered the implications of her words. He hesitated, then replied,

"Foaly's a smart pony. We just have to hold out for long enough for him to fix whatever it is she did. I think we should just stay here, even though she knows this is where we are. What can she do? As long as nobody gets off the shuttle, we should be completely safe."

Holly rolled her contradistinctive eyes at the words "completely safe". There was no such thing when you were dealing with Koboi. However, realizing that what he proposed was the best course of action, she agreed.

**Haven**

Jax beamed, looked at the faces gathered before him. As he had run to the hotshot station, he'd been muttering to himself, and apparently he wasn't the only demon who felt the way he did. Many of the demons that he had passed had begun to follow him to the port when they heard his murmured plans. By the time he arrived, there was a pride behind him, baying for blood.

The attendant, of course, knew couldn't let a bloodthirsty pack of demons loose on the surface. And he didn't let them. They let themselves, commandeering a group of titanium pods, and rocketing to the surface on the next hotshot, which, unfortunately, arrived almost immediately.

The attendant, waking up with a nasty bump on his head a few minutes later, dragged himself over to a communicator, and dialed the LEP number.

**Police Plaza**

Foaly facepalmed furiously. What more could go wrong? Koboi was on the loose, Holly was trapped on the surface, and a group of rogue demons had taken all of the pods in E37 to the surface. Even if he sent a squad up the nearest hotshot port, they wouldn't be there in time to stop the slaughter. He has only one choice. He had to send Retrieval One, which was already on the surface. At least they could protect Holly, No1, and the humans while they tracked down the newly established pride.

He vaguely considered that the demons could be Opal's doing, but threw out the thought. That was unorthodox even for her.

It was at that point that he had a brainwave. These demons were obviously unstable. Wasn't it likely that at least one of them had had a run-in with the law at one point? If he could just get a few names, and run them through the seeker-sleeper tag database, he could track the pack from down in the Ops Booth, and feed their location to Vein. Smiling to himself, he called a press conference.

**Office of Dr. Jerbal Argon, Haven**

Foaly was not the only one facepalming that day. Argon, when he saw the news brief resulting in Foaly's meeting with the reporters, dithered for a moment. He was utterly horrified. Every single one of the demons, shown in a video taken from the port's security cameras, was one of his patients. He knew that if he told the LEP, he'd be ruined. Destitute. But wait! What if it wasn't his fault? What if… what if the pills he'd given them were defective? Then he could sue the pharmaceutical company! Grinning happily, he lifted the receiver and called the LEP number.

**Police Plaza**

Foaly whistled "Riverbend" as he keyed the names into his database. Hitting enter, he spun slowly in his chair, conducting and invisible riverbend band with both hands and all four hooves. Just then, Vinyaya walked in. Foaly froze, right in the middle of an imaginary fiddle solo. She sighed resignedly, then asked,

"Any luck whatsoever? Vein's flying toward E37, because we figure they can't get far from there, but he needs an exact location."

Foaly turned back to the terminal, suddenly all business.

"Ehrm… demons. Right. Well, among the pride, civilians have called in to identify these three right here." He gestured to three of the reptilian figures in the video playing on the adjacent terminal. "Of these three, Licho, Philgen, and Deek, only Philgen has no record. The other two are tagged. I'm broadcasting Licho's and Deek's location to Vein now."

Vinyaya nodded, satisfied.

"Okay, thank you, Foaly. I'll have to see about getting a bonus for you." She turned and strode out. Foaly smirked. She was his favorite boss. Immediately, he felt a wave of guilt for even thinking that, which he buried in thoughts of how many gadgets he could buy with his bonus.

**So, suckish? Not suckish? Please, please review! I get way more traffic than reviews and that makes me sad. Any gushing, constructive criticism, or flames are welcome. Oh, and by the way, I know that Past-Opal would've known, after she returned, not to even try the Cudgeon and Zito plots because she already knew they didn't work, and the whole series would have to be rewritten, but guess what? I don't care! It's freaking time travel, alright? I'm not even getting paid for this (sob), so what're a few time paradoxes (paradoxi?) between friends? And as to why this is called chapter tilapia, it's what I'm having for dinner tonight, and I'm running out of clever chapter titles. If you can think of a better one, tell me when you REVIEW. Goodbye.**

**P.S. Yes, facepalm can be a verb. Booyah.**


	8. In Which Nothing Really Happens

**Okay, I know it's been for-freaking-ever since I updated, and I'm very sorry, I've had terrible writers block. I still do actually, so this one might be a shortie. Without further ado, here we go:**

**Outside the Hotel Jardin de l'Odeon**

Opal grinned her trademark catlike grin, lurking ominously outside Minerva's window. Having discovered her absence from Paradizo Chateau, Opal had completed yet another foray through the LEP mainframe, unbeknownst to Foaly. Updating her knowledge of Minerva's location, she had jetted off to the hotel, where she now found herself, plotting the kidnap of the girl inside.

At first, Opal had been remarkably confident of this new plan. The girl, after all, had no knowledge whatsoever that a determined sort-of-pixie was fixated on her abduction, and as far as Opal knew, the girl carried a remarkable lack of armaments, something that Opal intended to make her regret. Now, however, she was noticing one slight problem in her plot, and that was the simple fact that Minerva was a big girl, and Opal was a tiny one on tiny wings. Without a Moonbelt, she didn't have a prayer of flying the girl out of there, and carrying her wasn't even an option.

_Ah, well. A hostage situation it is, then._

This idea, too, had serious issues. No standard-issue weapons, which were what had been in the locker, were lethal. As she cast her eyes around the room through the window, however, her gaze lit upon a set of knives in the kitchenette.

Low-tech it was to be.

Her grin widened. She pulled back a tiny gloved fist to break the window, and… her beeper went off. She groaned and fluttered back from the window, not wishing for Minerva to see her if the girl happened to turn around.

She alighted high in a convenient laurel, hoping she looked like a lost bird, and wishing she still had enough magic to shield. She placed her pistol in the fork of the tree to be retrieved later- no need to risk Minerva getting her hands on it when she went in. The tree-dweller almost fell off of her branch when she saw what had caused the beep.

A few minutes previously, realizing how useful the LEP site was becoming, she had programmed her wrist computer to automatically alert her of any site updates, and that was exactly what it had done.

She got her maniacal laughter under control, than re-read the text, unable to believe her eyes. A pride of demons… _demons._ After Minerva! With Artemis and Holly on the shuttle tracking them! Well, that improved her situation a lot. If she told the demons where Minerva was, they would rush here immediately, shuttle in tow. Not only would she have them where she wanted them, but they would be unaware of the fact that they were, in fact, where she wanted them.

There was only one question. How to lure the demons…

**Several klicks from E37**

Jax galloped across the country at the head of his recently established pride, baying to the moon. The moon was full tonight, and the demons were moon mad. As they slowed to a trot, he considered what his next move would be. He, too, had brought a wrist computer from belowground, but unlike his quasi-pixie evil equivalent, it never occurred to him to check her location on the LEP site. However, as it turned out, that wouldn't be a problem, because it was about then that _his_ beeper went off.

"Hello?" he answered distractedly, blinking off the moon madness.

"Hello," the sibilant voice on the other end of the line replied. "I was so disappointed to learn that I missed out on this simply _wonderful_ opportunity you've brought us…" Jax swelled with pride. "But I thought I may be able to help. I know where the girl is."

Miles away, Opal smiled, glad her computer had a voice changer. Because demons always trusted demons, right?


	9. In Which Slightly Less Happens

**Okay, first of all, I am so, so sorry that I took so long to update, I just had no idea what to write, but I think I've finally got something good. And here… we… go.**

Artemis swallowed nervously as Verbil relinquished his seat to an unusually cheerful-looking Holly. Part of the order that had been beamed to the shuttle mere minutes ago had expressly cited that Holly was to drive the craft if she did so desire. Artemis suspected that this particular stipulation had been invented by Foaly, who had been the one to actually relay the series of commands.

The commands in question were unusually simple, particularly for the LEP. Retrieval One was to track the demons with frequent updates to be given to them by Foaly, capture them, then find a safe layover, preferably in a port, until the systems belowground could be fixed and the tunnels could resume operation.

Holly, of course, had stopped listening as soon as the comment about the piloting of the shuttle had come over the line, and had clearly taken a great delight in ejecting Chix from the soft pilot's chair. He had apparently become quite attached to it in the short time in which he had been acquainted, and had put up a remarkable fight before eventually wilting before the elfin major's barrage of logic, orders, and occasional profanity.

The ship rose smoothly from the ground, the engine's vibrations purring through the hull. As soon as it cleared the tree line, Holly's grin widened to impossible proportions. Most of Retrieval One paled simultaneously, scrabbling for seatbelts, harnesses, or, in Grub's case, Captain Vein's arm.

And with a slight breeze and a shimmer in the air, the ship was gone, destined for Paris.

**Outside the Hotel Jardin l'Odeon**

Opal was unusually proud of herself, which is saying quite a lot. She had had yet another brainchild. It had occurred to her that she could hide her presence for even longer, if she disguised herself as Minerva and hid the girl somewhere, so that she could still be used as leverage if the need arose, which, she ruefully admitted to herself, it quite possibly would.

What was happening to her? Her plans were supposed to be described as 'foolproof', 'brilliant', or 'genius', not 'risky'! It was the best she could do, though, particularly considering the little talk that she had had with herself earlier that night. She had thought that, since, after all, she was the most important, her plans should be designed with what she wanted and what she wanted only in mind, regardless of whatever death and destruction they might happen to cause.

This, of course, had triggered another internal debate. What, exactly, did she want? She was forced to think long and hard on that one. Her goals, she realized, had changed a lot. Money? No, she had that. Power? Mmmm… she'd had that, but the rest of the world had proven itself to be so damn _stupid_ that it gave her no pleasure to imagine lording over them. What about revenge, then?

Oh, yes.

With that cheerful new mantra snaking through her mind, her latest contrivance began to form. Why kill them? She could do that anytime, after all. No, wouldn't it just be precious to… break their little hearts? What would poor ickle Arty do if his wonderful Minerva didn't love him anymore? And Holly, too. She was a tricky one, that elf. How to get to her? Did she care about Artemis? Trouble? Or someone she hadn't thought of?

Ah well, she'd find out, and when she did, Holly wouldn't know what to think.

But how to take the girl's place? There were no magical means of disguise as far as she knew, and her magic was gone, anyway. She didn't have time for more cosmetic surgery, what with the shuttle already on its way, so she would have to use the old-fashioned way yet again. Grimacing, she fluttered off into the city. It couldn't be that hard to find a blonde wig in Paris, could it? And what about a gun?

**Alright, I realize that not much happens in here, either, but I'm kind of in a rush. I've got all the rest of it planned out, so there should be another update fairly soon. Thins will get a **_**lot**_** more interesting in either the next chapter or the one after that, so don't come after me for boring you out of your skulls, please. (Even if I have.) So, now that I'm done with that lovely message… REVIEW! Come on, I hate to beg and I know it's annoying, but I really need to know what I'm doing right and wrong. Do you want more of a certain POV? Less? I promise I'll listen, you just have to tell me!**


	10. In Which Something Epic Happens

**Wow, is it possible? Two updates in a **_**row?**_** Anyway, someone asked in a review of the last chapter why Artemis was in the shuttle, and I realized I may have been a little vague about that. It's because he was already in the manor when past-Opal was sent back, and thus, was already in the shuttle when it had to go chase the demons, if any more of you were wondering.**

Artemis snapped his cell phone shut as Trouble strolled by, then again as Grub followed suit. He proceeded through several minutes in much this manner until Holly finally set the shuttle to autopilot, rose from Verbil's pilot chair, which the sprite in question was still glaring at sullenly, and crept up behind Artemis. The boy jumped several feet when her voice sounded right next to his ear.

"Whatcha got there, Fowl? Texting someone?"

"Texting?" Trouble asked. "I think I remember texting. Somewhere circa Brady Bunch, wasn't it?" Artemis winced as Foaly, who had apparently been on speaker, about to deliver the next set of coordinates, guffawed loudly. His scowl deepened as Holly snatched his phone.

"Min-_erv_-a!" she crowed delightedly. Artemis sighed inwardly, preparing to rebut Foaly's imminent 'girlfriend' joke. He wasn't disappointed.

"Fowl!" came Foaly's whinny, right on cue. The centaur was clearly attempting to sound stern, and failing miserably, in Artemis' opinion. "We're on a field mission! This is no time to be texting your girlfriend!"

_Not up to his usual standard, _Artemis thought.

"Not up to your usual standard," Artemis said. Usually he was one to keep his thought to himself, but this wasn't one of those times.

Finally Captain Vein entered the conversation.

"Focus, centaur!" he barked in a stern voice that actually sounded stern. "Coordinates, please!" Foaly's scowl could practically be heard over the line.

"Right-o, Captain," he said scathingly. "The demons are right on track for Paris, a hotel, specifically. One Hotel Jardin l' Odeon."

"Thank you, Foaly," the captain replied slightly more gently, but not much. "Now if you can just- Fowl, what's wrong with you?"

Artemis had just paled, as though it was possible for his face to contain any less color than it already did.

"Hotel Jardin l' Odeon?" he asked slowly. Foaly replied the affirmative. "That's where, er…"

"'Er?" Holly asked. "'_Er?' _Boys, Artemis Fowl just said Er. This is going to be _bad_." That sobered Retrieval One up, and they turned to Artemis once again.

"It's where Minerva is staying."

Retrieval was quiet for a moment, until a small voice in the back said, "Well, D'Arvit," which was followed by a chorus of agreements.

**Hotel Jardin l' Odeon**

Minerva raised an eyebrow as a new text came through from Artemis. '_Minerva? Are you still there?' _It read. '_Yes, where would I have gone?'_ She replied. His next comment mystified her. '_Are you alone?'_

She sat dumbfounded. He couldn't have meant… could he? No, no, of course not. This _was_ Artemis, after all. She responded with perhaps the least eloquent text that she'd ever sent. '_?_'

He apparently understood her surprise, because he wrote, _'I apologize, that was badly phrased. I really do need to know if there's anyone else there, though.'_

Okay, still strange, but that she could deal with. _'No, why?'_

'_I'd appreciate it if you could stay in the lobby for a few moments. I'll be there soon.'_

Minerva felt the first twinge of unease in her stomach. Why shouldn't she be alone? She nearly jumped through the roof when there was a knock at the door. She picked up the phone and crept to the peephole, suddenly wary, but her suspicion vanished when she caught sight of the blonde head of a girl her own age.

'_I'll text you back in a minute, okay? There's someone at the door.'_

**The Shuttle**

"_What?"_ Artemis cried, glaring furiously at his cell phone's screen. Holly raised a questioning eyebrow.

"What's wrong? Did she break up with you?" Artemis was surprised by the comment. There was more venom in it than he was used to hearing in her voice.

"We're not 'going out,' you know that," he replied bemusedly, a characteristic not generally applied to him. Holly only scowled. "Well, if you must know, I told her to go to the lobby, so what does she do? She opens the door."

"That is generally what one does when one attempts to leave a room."

"No, not opened it in general, but opened it because someone knocked. Now she's not replying to my texts anymore."

Holly seemed remarkably undisturbed by that fact. "Doesn't sound like demons. Breaking down the door would be more their style than knocking, and besides, they're not in Paris yet, at least not the ones we're tracking."

"Still, though, is it really a coincidence? How likely is that?"

"That housekeeping knocked while she was in a hotel? Oh, you're right. Not a chance."

"Then why isn't she replying to me? And _why_ are you so… _cranky_?"

"Apparently she doesn't love you anymore. And who's cranky? I'm not cranky. Maybe you're cranky!" (The members of Retrieval One began to back away slowly.)

"… Yes, I think I must be," replied Artemis in a rare moment of social awareness. Holly cast him a suspicious look, searching for sarcasm, but eventually left for the cockpit once again. Artemis whirled at the sound of a small giggle behind him, and was surprised to see Trouble Kelp as its source. _Since when does Trouble _giggle? Artemis wondered.

"Ohhh, boy, you _are _in trouble, Mud Boy!" the captain cackled.

"Why would I possibly be in trouble?" Artemis queried, genuinely curious.

"Wow, you really do not understand the ladies, do you, Fowl?"

Artemis found himself scowling once again. "Apparently not, Captain. I assume you couldn't be persuaded to explain my supposed shortcomings in that department?"

Trouble smiled an unnervingly Holly-like grin. "That's be no fun at all, now would it, Fowl?"

**Hotel Jardin l'Odeon**

Opal fixed her most winning grin on her face as she cheerfully poked the doorbell, trying to ignore the various pinches and itches her costume was inflicting on her. She had hardly dared to hope that the girl would be stupid enough to open the door, but found herself unsurprised when she did. Human idiocy was boundless.

"Hello!" Minerva said cheerfully in French. Opal blinked, realizing too late that she had forfeited her gift of tongues, and French wasn't one of the languages that she was fluent in. Communication didn't present a barrier, as it turned out. Opal found a much simpler way of making her intentions clear, and that method came in the form of bodyslamming Minerva into the wall.

Opal, however, hadn't counted on the girl's years of self-defense classes, and she was hampered by her costume. Minerva blinked once, then promptly judo-kicked Opal into the opposite wall. _Ah, another problem,_ Opal considered ruefully. _She's bigger, too._

This was an advantage that Minerva used to the fullest extent, chasing Opal doggedly across the room, and easily blocking all of the punches and kicks that Opal threw at her first determinedly, then increasingly desperately. Opal's heart sank as she found herself pinned to the counter. How had this _happened_? All of this planning, only to be defeated in the girlfight of the century?

She knew there had been more of a plan. Something to do with the kitchenette. She pummeled her brain frantically as Minerva's brow furrowed, clearly at a loss as to what to do now that she had defeated her unannounced assailant. Her hand bumped against something wooden, and a glint of fear shone in Minerva's eyes. The bigger girl lunged forward, but it was too late. Opal smiled her catlike grin once again as she felt the butcher's knife slide clear of its block.


	11. The Girlfight Rages On

**Sorry! Sorry! Sorrysorrysorry! No excuse whatsoever, just laziness. Random note, just assume Opal's speaking Gnommish, because I don't want to have to keep typing that she is. I'm operating on the assumption that she never learned any human languages, since she had always relied on the gift of tongues, and scholastic opportunities are probably few and far between in the Deeps.**

**Hotel Jardin l'Odeon**

Opal straightened against the granite countertop, feeling the strangest rush of emotion. It was as though the knife _belonged_ in her hand as no blaster ever had. Why hadn't she always fought with a knife?

"Ow," she muttered as her movement brought a throb of pain from a recently acquired bruise.

Oh, right. Perhaps bringing her blaster would have been more efficient after all.

There was, however, some magic to a knife. The girl wouldn't have known her blaster was nonlethal, but even so, there was only so much fear that a gun could inspire. One shot, and it was all over, after all. With a knife, however…

She felt her familiar catlike smirk slide across her still-pixielike features, and then grow larger than ever, from catlike to Cheshire-catlike. Minerva's eyes widened accordingly as she retreated across the room, skillfully boxed out by Opal as she attempted to approach the door or windows.

Suddenly, Minerva charged, smashing Opal to the ground and grabbing desperately at her hand. Opal jerked away, cutting both of them slightly. Minerva rolled off of her, but retained her grip on the knife, desperately trying to wrest control of it. Opal reached over her head with her free hand, hoping for another weapon. What she found instead was a table.

Ah, well. It would have to do.

With the unusual fairy strength that she still possessed, she swung the table toward Minerva with all her considerable might. The girl dodged, but was forced to let go of Opal's hand in order to do so. Opal, however, got a surprise of her own, when the table's superior mass and inertia jerked her across the room. Minerva made another grab for her knife hand, and when the table hit the wall, Opal still its unwilling passenger, she finally pulled the wooden handle from her grip. Opal wasn't done yet, however. She was ruthless, and Minerva was not. The girl wouldn't hurt her, she knew, and this gave her a considerable advantage.

With no hesitation, she threw herself across the room once again. Minerva crouched and thrust with the knife as she whirled by, then careened into the opposite wall, her arm slashed. _Perhaps she will hurt me, after all._ Opal stayed still for a moment, expecting the familiar tingle of magical blue sparks. None came. _D'Arvit, D'Arviting Arvit!_ Fortunately, for Opal at least, the cut was shallow. She glared at Minerva, who looked a bit tousled but unnervingly unsurprised. How many midnight assassins had she had?

Opal glanced to her right. Another table. Well, why not? She held the elegant lectern in front of her like a shield, and charged for the third time. This time, since Minerva could't see her arms, she was able to feint, and when Minerva dodged accordingly, she flattened her with the end table, flattening the table in the process. Pinned beneath the table with the wildcat former-pixie crouched on top of it, Minerva could only glare as Opal pried the knife from her grasp at last. Opal stepped off of the table, holding the knife in front of her. Minerva rose slowly, treating her assailant to her best scowl.

Opal addressed her for the first time, somewhat surprised by the oily joy in her own voice.

"You," she hissed, "can _sit."_

Not the most ominous words spoken by a supervillain, but they were made somewhat more convincing by the shimmering knife in her hand.

Minerva's lip twitched slightly, and Opal leapt toward her, recognizing the body language. The girl was a good actor, but not good enough.

"The _other_ chair." Minerva swallowed as Opal rooted around in the chair she had originally been headed for. "Well, what's this now?" Opal asked as she pulled out a taser, looking at Minerva with new respect, which vanished instantly behind a scowl. "All that preparation, and still taken hostage in your own room. You're going to have to get up earlier than that to mess with the fairies."

It was Minerva's turn to narrow her eyes, lounging on the proffered chair as though there completely of her own free will. Fairies, then. That was what she was dealing with. The fairy had been speaking Gnommish the whole time, of course. How had she not _realized_ that? Speaking every language on Earth certainly had its downsides. She began to reel through everything that Butler had told her during her seaside visits. It hit her suddenly.

"Opal Koboi. Really? Holding me hostage? Is that the best you can do?"

"Ah, now, we can't have that," said Opal, once again somewhat put off by her own clichéd-evil-villain-ness. "You see, I'm not holding you hostage. I'm taking your place."

_Better,_ Opal thought. _Now _that_ was ominous._

Minerva seemed to agree. She tensed and swallowed but didn't speak. She didn't have to, because Opal wasn't done with her monologue yet, not even close.

"Oh, don't worry," she continued. _Screw it, _she thought again. _If I'm going to be clichéd, I'm going to do it well, D'Arvit. Besides, she's not judging me._ (Actually, Minerva was, in fact, judging her, but she was a bit more concerned with which psychiatric disorders she was affected by than her likeness to Dr. Doom.) "I'm not going to kill you just yet. It's always nice to have some nice leverage as a plan B. Just hope than plan A doesn't work, because if it does, well…"

_Now_ Minerva was comparing her to Dr. Doom.

Minerva addressed Opal once again.. "What, then?" she asked in French, switching to Gnommish when Opal stared at her blankly. "I just sit here while you implement your plan to take over the universe? Disguised as me, whom no one save a few fairies has even heard of?"

"More than a few fairies," Opal grinned, "And a few humans who would just _die_ to protect you."

_Would they? _Minerva wondered. She remembered Butler's actions in Taipei. _Ah. Uh-oh._

Opal wasn't finished yet. "And no, you don't just sit here." Minerva raised an eyebrow, which was promptly beamed by the handle of Opal's knife.

"Oh," she said, then slumped on the couch. Opal considered her for a moment, then threw Minerva's arm over her shoulder as though the girl was leaning on her, and set off down the hallway. Of course, she didn't get far before she ran into a guest. The guest pointed to Minerva and made some kind of an inquiry in what sounded like French or English. Opal smiled her sweetest toothy grin, then pointed to Minerva, rolled her eyes, and made a "drinky-drinky" motion with her free arm. The traveler laughed and continued down the hallway, to Opal's relief.

She glanced left and right as the stumbled down the corridor, finally casting eyes on what she was looking for as she neared the elevator. _Maintenance_ _crew only,_ the sign read in so many languages that the tiny spark of magic in Opal's brain was able to puzzle it out.

Without hesitation, Opal plucked and omnitool from her belt and into the lock, whistling innocently as she held the humming machinery behind her back. The door clicked open, and Opal flicked a light switch inside. Perfect. The room was stacked high with sheets and towels. She dumped Minerva on top of one of the smaller stacks and lay just enough towels to cover her completely over her, then placed her recently-human ear to the thin door, until she heard silence outside it.

Still whistling, she skipped down the hall to Minerva's room, jimmied the door once again, and helped herself to some Doritos as she tuned the TV to Hannah Montana. She may as well wait in comfort, after all.


	12. In Which Foaly is Obnoxious Even for Him

**Wow, we've reached what is most likely the penultimate chapter! (But I make no guarantees.) Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys rule!**

**The Shuttle, outside Hotel Jardin l'Odeon**

Holly glared over her shoulder as she manipulated the shuttle's controls.

"Artemis. Stop pacing. Some of us are trying to do some police work here, you know." Artemis sat, but didn't lose his look of intense concentration. "_What?"_ Holly groaned, exasperated. "How is this not completely straightforward? We form a perimeter. The demons come. We shoot them. We wait for Foaly to finally sort out whatever virus got thrown at him, and we go back belowground. There's no intrigue here." Artemis didn't seem placated by her rationalization, but he smiled slightly as he addressed her.

"Holly, think about it. There's _always_ intrigue. Have the two of us ever been aboveground together, and some earth-shatteringly important thing _not_ happened?"

Holly chose to take the rhetoric question literally.

"Well, the very first time… oh, wait, never mind. But what about when..? Ah, no, that was… right. Um… Does the Russian Mafia count as earth-shatteringly important?"

"That depends. I'm sure if you ask the Mafia…"

The conversation was abruptly halted by the entrance of Butler and Captain Vein.

"Short!" barked the latter, before paling at the realization that Holly actually outranked him. "Uh… I mean Major… Short," he continued sheepishly, "We're going to need this shuttle landed sometime soon. I just talked to Foaly on the com-set, and he recommended that we have a full shielded cordon around the building in fifteen minutes, judging by the demons' current speed."

"Velocity," came Foaly's voice, crackling over the ceiling speakers. Vein shot them a glare, then remembered that the centaur in question could not, in fact, see him. (Actually, Foaly _could_ see him, but elected not to acknowledge that fact.)

"It's the same thing!" growled the captain.

"Noooo," the quadruped on the other end of the line began, clearly eager to lecture in any branch of science, be it advanced technology or elementary physics. "_Speed_ is simply the distance covered in a certain amount of time. _Velocity,_ on the other hoof, is speed-"

"-In a certain direction. Right," Artemis interrupted bad-temperedly. "I think we all knew that." Chix looked slightly uncomfortable at that remark, along with most of Retrieval One. Artemis rolled his eyes. "Those few of us that cared, anyway. Didn't you say they'd be here in fifteen minutes?"

"You can't not care about speed and velocity! They're the very fabric of time itself! Huh. 'Very fabric of time itself'. That was quite poetic. Maybe I should-"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO CALL CABALLINE?" Vein thundered suddenly, making everyone jump. They heard a slight gasp on the other end of the line, then an indignant whinny. The threat, however, seemed to carry some weight, because the speaker crackled, and then went silent. Vein seemed to deflate a bit, but then picked up where he had left off before Foaly's input. "So. Retrieval One, full cordon. Not just entrances. These things can go up walls, right?"

The question was directed at Butler and No1, who had been sitting in a corner reciting every word in Latin that started with Q. A surprisingly large number, actually.

"Up walls. Correct," chirped the demon in question happily. "Also fences, trees, rocks, vines, houses, shelves…"

Vein elected not to reply.

"Butler, if you and Artemis would stay in the shuttle, please, and watch No1. Major Short, if you would… Do whatever it is you feel like. Right. Move out!"

Holly flipped the switch to open the bay doors, which slid apart with a pneumatic hiss. Retrieval had vaulted, sprinted, bounded, and in one notable case skipped, through the aperture before the ramp had even been fully lowered, shimmering out of existence before they fluttered to the pavement of the empty lot in which the shuttle had shielded itself.

8XxX8XxX8XxX8XxX8XxX8XxX8XxX

"So," Holly remarked, casting an eye over her three shuttlemates.

"I take it you're not attending this mission?" Artemis inquired, an eyebrow raised.

"Of course I am. I just waited here because I know you too well. You had a good point earlier; things never go off without a hitch when we're around, it just doesn't work that way apparently. So, what's the catch? The demons are secretly dragons? The hotel is secretly a military base?"

Artemis' other eyebrow rose to meet the first. He was genuinely impressed at the elf's deduction.

"Quite true. I am not happy with the current state of affairs. However, it's nothing so impressive as dragons or intelligence agencies, I merely hoped that you might take me upstairs and attempt to make contact with Minerva."

Butler and Holly both started vociferously objecting to this. No1 started talking too, a moment too late.

"Artemis, that's completely insane! Retrieval has a full cordon around the building!"

"You know perfectly well it's my duty to guard you, you're my Principal, and there's no way Holly could sneak both of us past!"

"Quatre. Qraspine. Qua. Quab. Quacha. Qvacked."

"That's not even Latin!" Holly shouted, even more frustrated. "And it brings up another problem, actually. We can't leave No1 alone."

"I realize that," Artemis stated infuriatingly calmly. "Butler can stay with No1, and Holly can fly me over Retrieval. There is some cam-foil to be found in this shuttle, I presume?"

A whinny came over the speaker. "Cam-foil? Mud Boy thinks we still use cam-foil. Honestly. We, my socially challenged friend, use invisispray now."

"Foaly!" roared Holly, "How long have you been listening?"

Artemis had criticism of a different brand.

"Invisispray? Really? Honestly, who is it who names these things?"

"I do!" Foaly snorted angrily. "And I've been listening the whole time, of course. Nobody ever told me I couldn't. And Artemis, naughty naughty. Sneaking away from Retrieval to go visit your-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Artemis and Holly screamed simultaneously, then stared at each other in confusion.

"Oh _dear." _Foaly's voice was dripping in condescension. "It seems as though Artemis is actually offended by the girlfriends jokes, rather than becoming defensive, so let me just consult my 'Psychology for Dummies'… hmm. So. It would appear as though you actually _resent_ our poor, dear, tall, blonde, French, genius, girl-your-age Minerva."

Artemis looked positively murderous beneath his blush.

"Now what could possibly cause that? It's almost as though… _she broke up with you."_ Holly cast Artemis an alarmed look. For someone who never showed emotion, he appeared nothing short of homicidal.

"Um, actually, Foaly, I think maybe…" she began nervously.

"And _you!_" he crowed delightedly. _"You _object to the term girlfriend too! Which would almost make me think-"

"Foaly." Butler's bass cut through the centaur's psychological rant, Artemis' low growl, No1's mutterings, and Holly's small grunts as she strained to hit the speaker with her gun. Foaly apparently picked up on the thinly veiled warning in his tone, and the speaker fell silent with a small click. Holly and Artemis stared at each other, but neither spoke. Butler toed the ground awkwardly as the seconds grew. He was about to start whistling when-

"'Psychology for Dummies?'" came No1's voice, unaffected by the tension. "Isn't a dummy a stupid person? Imbecile? Idiot? Moron? A royal dumbass, if you will?"

"Why yes," Holly chirped, suddenly remarkably cheerful. "It says a lot about someone who would read that book, doesn't it?"

"It does," No1 replied.

"_As_ I was saying," Artemis continued, getting back his typical composure, "Holly should fly me in, with the aid of… Invisispray. Gods, it doesn't get better with repetition, does it?"

"No, Artemis, it doesn't," Butler said, "Neither the product nor your idea. The demons don't like you any more than they like Minerva, and I've already risked your life for her once."

"I realize that, old friend, but this time I'm risking my own life. I _am _going in, whether or not Holly comes with me. I still consider Minerva my friend, and if there's anything I can do to help her, I will, because something is clearly wrong."

Holly considered his words.

"Butler, I hate to take his side in this, but he's right. Someone has to go in. One of those someones has to be me, the other can't be you or No1, and you have to guard No1 anyway. It's the only way."

"You can't just get Retrieval to do it?"

"They'd never risk anything for a Mud Girl, and besides, they need every fairy they have."

"Butler." Artemis asserted. "The demons are coming now. Time is of the essence. The longer we wait, the riskier it gets. If we leave now, we can be back before they arrive. Even if we don't make it back in time, you know that Holly is perfectly capable of defending me from them."

Butler abruptly gave in.

"Alright. Go now. And please be careful."

"Quannet. Quant. Quantile. Quantimeter. Quantivalence. Quantophrenia."

"Right," said Holly, suddenly businesslike. "We are _out_ of here."

**Random place for an ending, I realize, but things get pretty interesting after this and I don't want to abandon you at a cliffhanger again. This might be your second-to-last chance to review! Sorry is this chapter made no sense, I'm not too good with dialogue like that. Hopefully Chapter Thirteen should be up soon.**


	13. The End

**Once again, I have to apologize; I have no excuse other than supreme laziness. My bad. Just to let you know, the beginning is a little weak. Just give it a while, it gets better, I promise! It's Long. It's Worth It. It's So Important I Feel The Need To Capitalize Every Word. It's… The Moment We've All Been Waiting For.**

**Hotel Jardin l'Odeon, Paris, France**

Artemis held back a gasp as he was lifted into the air. No matter how many times he flew with Holly, the sensation of being unable to see his own body always shocked him. It was heightened by the fact that, due to the Invisispray- he still scoffed at the name- he was unable even to see his own body, and there appeared to be literally nothing between him and the ground.

Holly expertly manipulated the wing controls, steering the rig onto an eighth-floor balcony, which, having hacked the hotel's network from the shuttle, she knew to be Minerva's floor. She disconnected the piton tying Artemis to her, then set to work on the door with her omnitool.

Artemis suddenly found that he didn't mind Invisispray's less-than-creative name anymore. He turned his hand in front of his face, knowing that it was there, but unable to see it.

"Amazing," he stated. "I can't even imagine the focused ocular distortion necessary for a chemical such as this. How did Foaly manage to achieve it?"

Holly turned, her hand on the wrought-iron door handle.

"Artemis, you know perfectly well that I don't follow these things. Ask him yourself." She tossed him a helmet that miraculously fitted on his head. He blinked a sequence that he had observed Holly using before, activating the radio, meanwhile wondering where on earth Holly had stowed that helmet.

"Foaly?" he said quietly into the recessed microphone. A distant, voice, muted, but clearly recognized as Foaly's. He could barely make out what he was saying.

"… where she is? Well, yes, I know exactly where _that _one is, I mean the non-time-traveling one. Well, clearly she didn't do it on her own, nobody does that! Okay, nobody does it with help either, but that's not the point. Oh, ha-ha. There's nothing wrong with my security, she cheated. Would you hang on a sec? I've got an important call on the other line."

Artemis cleared his throat, waiting to be addressed.

"Honey! How was your day? Oh, I'm doing fine, a bit of business in the office, you know. What? _What? _You want to know… _What _did you say was on the news? Oh. Okay. Well then. Huh. I'd better see about that. Okay, I'll call you in a while. Love you too."

Artemis scowled. Clearly, he did not rank very highly on Foaly's call list.

"Artemis!" came the long-awaited whinny. "Found a new helmet, I see. So you wanted to know about the Invisispray?"

"How did you kn- never mind." Artemis could practically hear Foaly's smirk. Of course the centaur knew what they'd been talking about. Why was he ever even surprised anymore? "Well, how then? You know what, never mind, I'll figure it out on my own."

"I highly doubt that. That is an extremely sophisticated chemical compound, the machinery alone necessary to manufacture it is far beyond the rea-"

"Fine. How close are the demons?"

A brief snort came over the line.

"Demons. Right. Ah… ETA, ten minutes. Move now, and you'll be in and out by the time they show their ugly faces."

Holly's voice came over the line. Artemis had been unaware that her helmet was on the same frequency.

"Alright, then, we're going. Artemis, you know the room number?" He nodded the affirmative. Holly slid open the beautiful glass French doors and stepped into the thankfully unoccupied hotel room.

"Foaly, one more question. How long until this stuff wears off?" Artemis could, once again, hear Foaly's smirk over the com-set.

"Should be anytime now. Just hope it doesn't wear off your clothes before it wears off your skin…"

Artemis cast a horrified look at Holly.

"Please tell me he's kidding."

"I wish. I've been in a few unpleasant situations with that myself. I'll go stand guard by the elevators; you stay in here until it wears off fully. You'll be lucky to get Minerva to come with you visible; invisible, you haven't got a chance. I'll be shielded but I'll see you come out of Minerva's room, and I'll come back in here. Here's my omnitool if you need it, but hopefully she'll let you in. Remember, we've got ten minutes- less than that now- until we have some visitors, so hurry." Holly inched the door open and slid through, fading as she did.

Artemis paced around the white, fancy suite, wishing that his watch wasn't invisible. Finally, he saw a faint shimmer where his hand should be, than a vague outline, than a transparent, ghostlike effect. Finally, his entire being- clothes included- had joined the visible spectrum once again. He inched the door open as Holly had, and slid out into the hall. There was no sign of Holly near the elevators, but, after all, there shouldn't be.

He strode down the hall, as though he belonged there, until he got to the room that he knew to be Minerva's. He gave a polite triple knock, and waited a moment, but there was no sound from the inside, except for what sounded like a television. Perhaps she had fallen asleep? It was late, after all.

It was at about that point that Artemis remembered that he still had his helmet on. Mentally rebuking himself, he whipped it off and stowed it under his arm, reasonably sure that under light examination it would appear to be nothing more than a motorcycle helmet. He hoped that Minerva would open the door; he got the impression that those who rode what were, in his opinion, suicide machines were… He struggled for a word in his own considerable vocabulary, but found none. Perhaps Juliet's then. The word "badass" sprang to mind.

It was, however, apparently to be a moot point, because, although he knocked successively harder several times, the door didn't budge, and he had to resort to using the omnitool. He did so, and the door swung noiselessly open. Hoping that Minerva's generally considerable wrath could somehow be averted, he stepped inside.

*******

Holly watched as Artemis finally found his way into the room, scowling. She then proceeded to scowl at herself for scowling. Not only was she in a bad mood, but the sneaking feeling about exactly _why_ she found herself in that particular mood only exacerbated it. She leaned idly against the wall, moving farther from the elevators a few times as guest strolled by, although it wasn't really necessary. She checked her watch roughly every thirty seconds. _What _was taking Artemis so long?

*******

As it turned out, the question wasn't 'what' but 'who'. Artemis stepped farther into the room, toward the TV, which was tuned to a certain show that offended him deeply. He made a mental note to confront Minerva about her dubious tastes in television. Just as he was about to give up on subtlety and simply shout her name, he heard behind him possibly the most ominous 'click' he'd ever heard in his life. He then heard an even more ominous zap and a sizzling sound, and felt a gun barrel on the back of his head, which was yet more ominous that that.

He turned slowly, knowing what he would see before he did, and of course he was right. Opal grinned before him, having removed her disguise, with a modified fairy blaster in one hand and a conventional human weapon in the other, both of which were pointed straight at him. She grinned a grin unsettlingly like his own, and gestured for him to take a seat, which he did. She sat across from him, still smiling, still not speaking, and still with two guns pointing at his head. The lock on the door, he noted with dismay, had been burned beyond recognition.

Artemis barely suppressed his fingers from twitching nervously against the silky blue armchair. Opal curled up in a matching one across the white rug. Clearly, she was not going to break the silence, so he did so himself.

"What is it that you want this time? You must know that it is completely impossible for you to escape this building."

"I have no intention of escaping this building."

"What do you hope to accomplish, then? I see that you must have captured Minerva; where is she? Or have you killed her?" His composure barely slipped, but Opal caught it."

"Well, no, not yet, although since I have you here I suppose I probably will, if I can."

"Why?"

"Because I can."

These words were even more ominous than the gun had been. Opal had always been unbalanced, but clearly this most recent imprisonment had pushed her off the edge. Also, the fact that she knew she wouldn't escape from the hotel unsettled him. There was only one thing left that she could be trying to achieve.

"What now, then?" he asked. He was trying to buy time, but the ruse failed. Opal considered for a moment, tilting her head and moving her lips as though going through a checklist. Finally she looked up, smiling once again.

"I shoot you, I suppose. Tell me, how long do you think it will be before that elf gets worried and comes in here? I will shoot her through the door, I think. Actually, I think I'll let her see your body. I've seen her look of utter despair before, and it was quite entertaining. I'd love to see it again. Then I'll shoot her, so she'll die with that look on her face, and I can stare at it as long as I desire, then I will shoot Minerva, then as many of Retrieval as I can."

Not once did the smile leave her face.

"Oh, and you can give me that." Artemis slowly handed her the helmet. She seared the inside with a long blast from the laser, rendering it useless.

Artemis had rarely felt fear, and even more rarely had he shown it, but a cold terror shot through his veins, and he felt his eyes widen, and sweat start to bead on his brow. Opal was completely insane. He heard her speak of killing Holly and Minerva, and he was terrified, because he knew that she would.

"So _this_," Opal mused, "This is _your_ look of utter despair. I suppose everybody has one." She paused. "Ah, but I'm making the same mistake that I always do. I talk and gloat until some cavalry pulls off some grand rescue. Well, not this time. I am going to shoot you. Right now. As soon as I find a good angle; I can't have a memory of this in which I can't see your face."

She rose and walked around the room, staring at him all the while. For perhaps the fifth time in his life, his brain became that of a normal, terrified human. The grandiose schemes and complicated mathematical theorems that were constantly darting through his brain dried up, leaving behind only burning, freezing, paralyzing fear.

Opal finally stopped with her back to the picture window.

"Perfect. The moonlight illuminates your face just so… would you do me a favor and stand up, please? I'd like to watch you fall."

He rose dumbly.

"A little to your left."

A bit of his usual contrariness returned, and he glared at her.

"Ah well. Your loss. I though everyone dreamed of dying with perfect lighting, but I suppose that's just me. Bye now."

Artemis was tempted to close his eyes, but he stared her down. Suddenly, he saw her twitch and give a sideways glance. Some sixth sense, perhaps. Apparently a good one, because at that moment the window in front of which she stood exploded inward, a hailstorm of glass covering him in a myriad of cuts. Opal couldn't have fared well, he thought.

As it turned out, glass was the least of her worries. Something like ten or twelve demons vaulted through the window and surrounded her, stalking in a moving circle, low, rumbling growls humming from deep in their chests. Opal was hardly phased by the newcomers. She turned the guns this way and that, but seemed barely to notice the demons, instead attempting to center them on Artemis, who elected to complicate things for her further by ducking behind his chair.

Opal opened fire on the demons, dropping one of them with a smoking scorch from one gun and another with a bullet from the other. The remaining demons howled and flew at her with teeth, horns, and claws. Opal howled right back and began to shoot with a vengeance.

Artemis watched the fight in horrified awe from behind the chair. The demons were formidable fighters, but Opal was a whirlwind of pure howling, spitting fury, and the demons' circle was driven farther and farther back, until they stalked her from a distance once again. Somehow, the entire time that she had been fighting, Opal had kept her eyes on Artemis, assuring him with them that, despite this small change in plans, she was still going to kill him. He edged out from behind the chair, hoping to dart toward the door, but a smoking laser burn scorched the rug directly before his fingers, and he pulled them back. The demons regrouped in a corner, glaring at Opal and Artemis, beaten for now, but clearly not subdued.

Opal came closer and closer to Artemis' chair, until crouching behind it offered no protection from the Fury-like being, and he forced himself to stand and look her in the eyes once again. As soon as he began to rise, though, he dove back to the ground. Not because of cowardice, though. He had stepped on the knife, and when he rose again, he had it glittering in his hand. It wasn't as good as the blasters that Opal had, fetched from the tree outside in which she had stowed them before her jaunt inside, but holding a knife does tend to give one a bit of extra confidence.

They stared each other down for a moment, then Opal pulled both triggers at the precise moment that Artemis dived to the side, slashing one of her wrists with all the strength he could muster, and, more effectively, Jax, the demons' leader, leapt onto her shoulders, apparently having gotten back his nerve.

Opal, rather than grudging it, seemed glad of the extra competition. She twisted furiously, jabbing with her tiny, pointy elbow until Jax fell off. He did, but not before one of the guns flew from Opal's hand. All three dived for it, but Artemis miraculously got there first and seized it. Jax paused, unsure of whom to attack, but Opal never slowed. She continued the dive, teeth bared, a wild keen escaping her lips, blood ribboning from the wrist he had cut. She seemed to have forgotten the other gun in her hand; Artemis was unsure of which one it was. She went for his throat, and he collapsed to the ground under her weight. He fired the gun in his hand as fast as he could pump the trigger, still unsure of which one it was.

He soon found out. Opal rolled off of him, three bullet holes in her chest. She looked him in the eyes, and he scrambled backwards. The terror he had felt before was nothing compared to what he felt now. His genius gave him no control now. Her eyes were pure, simple, certain rage. He wouldn't have been surprised if the look alone had killed him on the spot. Then she screamed, and it was even worse. It was all of the pain of the wound, and the pain and fury of failing in this last mission that she had set for herself. Even the demons froze, eyes wide, then began to wail, harmonizing with her terrible death keen. The sound drilled into Artemis' head to the core, and he wanted to fall to the ground, covering his ears, but he couldn't move.

She fell back, eyes still open, still glaring and accusing, and whatever last vestiges of magic were in her humanoid body rose from her skin in a blue haze, swirled around the wounds, and seemed to give up, dripping off of her and sinking into the carpet. Her scream stopped, the demons' wailing with it. Her dead eyes were still fury.

Now Artemis collapsed. He forced himself to inhale, then exhale. His heartbeat pounded through his ears. Opal's death had been too terrible for even him to handle.

The demons, however, had no such problems. Death was something they were used to, even if the scream wasn't. Death was what they had come to bring. They had _seen_ death, but they hadn't inflicted it yet.

Jax began to growl. The pack joined, the low hum growing and twisting, rising into a baying, howling roar. Artemis didn't react. He felt as though Opal had cursed him, and he was bound to die in this room, if not by her hand. The noise grew closer and closer, surrounding him, providing a soundtrack to the dark thoughts that he found himself unable to escape from. A hand closed around his shoulder, hard enough to leave bruises, claws drawing blood. Artemis felt a sharp point under his chin, pulling him from his stupor against his will. He found himself staring into Jax's yellow, slit-pupiled eyes and slavering fangs, grinning into his face. This, though, didn't scare him. Jax could kill him, he knew, could rip him apart, but he could never give him the look of rage that Opal had given him.

The pack circled closer.

*******

Holly leaned against the wall, checking her watch. She would give Artemis one more minute, then she was going in there. She shifted again, foot falling asleep, laying her cheek against the maintenance door. A low ringing reached her ears from the other side of the door. _Probably just a bit of machinery_, she thought.

Suddenly, she became suspicious. These walls, she knew, were soundproof, so if she could hear it, that meant the source of the noise was practically against the wall. Had it not been for the amplification of the metal door, she probably wouldn't have heard it at all.

_Sure, Holly, _she told herself. _You're a Recon officer. Being bored shouldn't make you have to investigate every little thing. _Her curiosity, however, finally got the best of her. She regretted lending Artemis her omnitool, but then noticed that the door was unlocked, with a bar through the handle on the _out_side. Almost as if someone was locked in, rather than her being locked out.

_Oh, give me a break_, she mocked herself. _People don't lock each other in maintenance rooms. _But she opened the door anyway and slipped inside. The ringing was indeed coming from right near the wall, but seemed to be from underneath a badly folded stack of towels, incongruous in the pristine room. She started throwing the towels over her shoulder. The ringing grew louder as she did so. She whipped off the last few, and gasped.

Minerva lay unconscious on the towels, her ringing cell phone slipping out of her pocket, bumping the wall she lay against. _Papa,_ read the caller ID. Voicemail picked up, apparently on speaker. A deep voice rang through the small room, speaking in rapid French. "Minerva, darling, I have found us a lovely chateau! It looks over the ocean. There is a big blue room with large windows for you, on the seaward side. I have been informed that there is excellent Internet access. Anyway, return my call when you can, and I shall tell you of the passage here that I have arranged for you, along with our things. Papa loves his Minerva."

Holly stifled a smirk at the last sentence, then stopped as she fully registered the situation. Someone had knocked out and hidden Minerva. Artemis had gone into Minerva's room.

Holly sprinted down the hall, gun already drawn, fighting back the dread rising in the pit of her stomach. Minerva's door was locked, but Holly body slammed it down with no hesitation. She registered the situation within in an instant, and opened fire soon after that. Half of the demons were down before they even knew they had a visitor, and the other half never knew who exactly that visitor was.

She rushed to Artemis, who, although conscious, was clearly dazed. He didn't seem to be deeply injured, but was staring over her shoulder. She whirled and gasped again, catching sight of Opal's blood-soaked body. The eyes glared at her, too. Accusing. Vengeful, even in death. _This isn't over,_ the eyes said. Holly glared back at them and clipped Artemis onto the Moonbelt. He still said nothing. She considered going back the way that she had come in, but, casting an eye around the wreckage of the room, decided that one more broken window wouldn't make that much of a difference.

*******

Foaly smiled coldly on the shuttle's screen. Artemis was still resting while Holly told him what she had seen.

"The room's a mess," she concluded. "We're going to need a team up there, before the hotel's housekeeping trips on a snoring demon in the morning."

"Already taken care of," Foaly replied. Holly glanced at the radar screen and saw that, indeed, a shuttle was jetting toward the hotel.

"Oh, yeah, one more question," Holly continued. "Has anyone asked Minerva what in Frond's name happened to her?"

"Actually, yes. We figured that, since she's already in on the game, and this was sort of our fault, she deserved to know. The team that came in after you explained why Opal was there, and she took it surprisingly well. Apparently they had a fistfight."

"A… fistfight. Minerva had a fistfight with Opal Koboi." Holly started to feel a new respect for the girl. She also found that her resentment toward her was vanishing, now that Minerva was leaving Europe. As usual, she didn't permit herself to wonder why this was.

"Yup. Even threw a table at her. I copied the whole thing from the satellite we had on her."

"Oh, cool, I'd love to see- wait, we had a _satellite _on her?"

"Um… yes." Foaly looked suspiciously unrepentant. "Hey, don't look at me like that, it was Council's orders."

"And… nobody _noticed_, on the feed from this wonderful satellite of yours, that _Minerva Paradizo was having a fistfight_ _with Opal Koboi?"_

"Hey, I've got hundreds of these things up there. I can't watch them all at once, can I? Maybe if I had a decent budget…"

"Don't you _dare_ give me that budget excuse…" Holly began. Foaly cut her off.

"'Scuse me a sec, but I've gotta take this call."

"Don't you _dare…_" But it was too late. Holly heard the squeaking of office chair wheels as Foaly rolled to another station. A muted voice flowed through her com-set.

"Honey! Sorry I forgot to call you back, I… Oh, no, I'm sorry I missed dinner. I'm sorry Sweetybum, that sounds like it would have been delicious… I'll warm it up myself, okay? What? Okay, I won't call you Sweetybum again. How about Sugarrump? No? Babytail? All right, all right, sorry, I'll work on that… I know… I'm so sorry, I had a bit of a situation up here, Koboi trashed a hotel room… yeah, Koboi… no, she's dead actually, long story… Oh? Okay, I'll pick up some carrots too... But they're nutritious..! Yes dear."

Holly sighed and went back into the passenger section, where Artemis was. He no longer looked dazed, but thoughtful, as though he was still analyzing the night's events. He looked up when she entered.

"Holly," he smiled, a real smile. "It seems I must thank you once again for saving my life. I appreciate your making a habit of it."

"You killed Opal Koboi," she half-smiled back. "I think the People collectively owe you for that… although I would have liked to do it myself."

"It was actually unintentional. I was unaware that I was holding a lethal weapon."

"I just hope the Council doesn't give you a hard time. I doubt they could, even if they tried. You're not exactly in their jurisdiction."

"I'd like to see them try," Butler rumbled, having also entered the hold. "Honestly, Artemis, please listen to me next time. You should have known that the one time I'd let you go off on your own would be the time you ran into a psychotic former-pixie and a pack of demons."

"Things do see to work out like that, don't they, old friend? I do apologize, you were certainly correct, although I was correct that Holly would protect me."

Butler scowled anyway, but all of them knew that he wasn't really angry. Holly added a dark note to the conversation.

"I wonder if Koboi will get a recycling ceremony, or if they'll just dump her somewhere. Kudos to whatever fairy got close enough to cover her up. Gods, I hope she isn't on our shuttle."

Even Artemis shuddered at the though of those furious, accusing brown eyes, staring, somewhere on their shuttle.

"In her last moments," Artemis remarked pensively, "She was almost… admirable. In a psychotic, evil, homicidal sort of way, or course, but admirable nonetheless. She didn't fear death, and the thought of defeat had never occurred to her. Even though she turned out the wrong way, the People have suffered a loss."

Holly considered his words. "Maybe, if she'd been on the good side, yes. One way or the other, she was a formidable force. The fact that she hasn't taken any lives, though, is dumb luck, and frankly, I'm sure there have been casualties we don't know about. Clearly no prison can hold her. Artemis, I know how you feel, but you did the right thing."

Butler added a consolation of his own.

"Taking a life is never easy. But the fact that you regret it means you're not a monster. And Holly's right, she had to die. You saved the planet from a powerful enemy."

"Perhaps," said Artemis. "I'm not so sure. You're right, though; she was too unpredictable. I'd do the same again. But that doesn't make it any easier."

"I think she'll haunt all of us for a while." The three were surprised to see No1 as the speaker. He shrugged at their expressions. "It's true. But we'll recover. Quan's taught me a bit about how that works, too. You knew it would come to this, all of you. Either one of you would kill her, or she would kill one of you. It was your mission, even if you didn't realize it. Artemis is right. You'll miss her."

**And we arrive at the end of my debut. If you haven't reviewed before, now would be the time. I think I inadvertently turned into an Opal sympathizer at the end there, how about you guys? Was I worthy of writing a major canon death? If you've already reviewed an earlier chapter, feel free to review again, because I feel like it changed a lot from the beginning to the end. Keep an eye out for my drabble collection coming out… huh. I'd love to say 'soon' but 'eventually' is probably a bit closer to the mark. Anyway, let me know what you thought! **


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